


He's Dating Who?

by scribbleLaine



Category: Lizzie McGuire (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23947423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribbleLaine/pseuds/scribbleLaine
Summary: Lizzie and Miranda suddenly discover that Gordo is dating popular girl, Brooke Baker. Lizzie tries to play it cool, but how does she really feel? A series of explorations in Lizzie's inner monologue during the events of "Gordo and the Girl". *COMPLETE*
Relationships: David "Gordo" Gordon/Lizzie McGuire
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Lip-lock Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> Explorations of what Lizzie's inner monologue might have been during the events of the season 1 episode "Gordo and the Girl".

_2:07 A.M._

Lizzie stared at her alarm clock as she laid in bed, idly fidgeting with a hair scrunchy. She and Miranda had stayed up pretty late that night watching the scary movie marathon, and Miranda ended up sleeping over. She looked down at her best friend, who was sound asleep snoring softly in her sleeping bag. She then looked back at the alarm clock: _2:07_. Judging by the time, she should have been fast asleep too. But she was having a heck of a time falling asleep with her mind racing like it was. And the crazy thing was, it had nothing to do with the back-to-back horror flicks they had just watched.

 _This just can't be real_ , she thought to herself. She'd been lying there awake for the last hour and a half trying to figure out how all of this could have happened right under her nose. And so far, the only explanations she could come up with was that it was either a bad dream or it was all some sort of weird, alternate universe conspiracy that everyone was in on except for her and Miranda.

_Gordo… and Brooke Baker?_

_Brooke Baker… and Gordo?_

_Gordo and Brooke Baker… kissing?!_

Her stomach was twisting itself into a knot just thinking about it. She felt like such a voyeur having seen them kissing at the Digital Bean earlier that evening when she obviously wasn't supposed to and now she couldn't get the image out of her head. Gordo's hand intertwined with Brooke's, him leaning in ever closer to her, their eyes closing in anticipation, and then…

 _No!_ She _didn't_ want to visualize it again. Miranda had all but lost her lunch at the sight of it and then wouldn't shut up about how gross it was witnessing Gordo's lip-lock on their walk back to Lizzie's house. Lizzie, on the other hand, had been unusually quiet. She wasn't quite as certain as Miranda that she was feeling grossed out by the idea of Gordo kissing someone. It felt more like she had been zapped by an invisible stun gun, or like a rug had been swiftly yanked out from beneath her feet. It had just caught her completely off guard.

And it just did _not_ compute. So now at 2:07 in the morning, there were so many questions racing through her brain that urgently needed answers. Like when did Gordo start dating Brooke Baker? When did he start _liking_ Brooke Baker? When had he ever even _spoken_ to Brooke Baker? Who initiated it? What does he see in her anyway? _And why hadn't he mentioned any of this to his alleged best friends?!_

But unfortunately for Lizzie, the one person who could answer all of these burning late-night questions was probably busy dreaming about Brooke Baker.

Lizzie sighed, tossing the scrunchy onto her nightstand and rolling onto her back. Staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her bedroom ceiling, she resolved to stop thinking about this for the night and finally try to get some sleep. But as she settled in under the covers, she had a feeling deep down that she would be in for a long and restless night.


	2. Bus Ride Blues

_3:20 P.M._

Well, _this_ was a first. Lizzie found herself sitting on the bus ride home alone. Miranda's mom had picked her up from school early that afternoon for a dentist appointment. And once again, Gordo had ditched her and was nowhere to be found. Except…that wasn't entirely true. Lizzie knew exactly where he was – sitting several rows ahead of her at the front of the bus with Brooke, Claire and a few of the other popular kids.

Lizzie shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she watched them from a distance. The bus was pretty noisy as usual, so she couldn't make out what they were saying. But every so often, she would see Brooke break into a fit of laughter at something Gordo had said and his face lighting up in return. Lizzie wanted to be a supportive best friend. She really did. But it was hard to be supportive of Gordo when he wasn't exactly being honest with her. She still couldn't believe how easily he had lied right to her face during science class that morning about his night of "bonding with his dad". And then again at lunch when he had bailed on her and Miranda to go "help a friend". It just wasn't like Gordo to lie about something this major, and especially _not_ to her.

What in the world was happening? Other than her parents, Gordo was the one person she had seen virtually every single day of her life since she was in diapers. And now that he was spending more and more time with Brooke and less and less time with her, everything had just started to feel… _off_. She was used to sitting next to him on the bus ride to school and back. She was used to eating lunch with him in the cafeteria and complaining to each other about the mystery meat of the day. She was used to him calling her in the evenings after school and sometimes in the mornings before school.

She was used to his familiar voice on the other end, talking with her and Miranda for hours on the phone about anything and everything until her mom, or more likely Matt, kicked her off. She was used to him coming over and watching mindless TV with her and getting smoothies at the Digital Bean together with Miranda on the weekends. She was just _so used to him_ always being there that she had never really thought about what it would be like when he suddenly… wasn't. And it was kind of disorienting, really.

"Ugh, why am I still thinking about this?" she muttered under her breath. It was bound to happen at some point, right? The reality that girls might become interested in Gordo and that he might be interested back. She couldn't reasonably expect to have him all to herself forever, could she? It wasn't like she owned him or anything. So why was she feeling so put off by Brooke's sudden interest in him? He _was_ a boy, after all. And while Lizzie may not have been able to see why he would go for someone like Brooke Baker, there was no shortage of reasons in her mind why a girl might go for _him_ when she really thought about it.

Gordo was incredibly smart and could run circles around just about anyone on any subject at any time. He was really talented and passionate about his interests, even if they didn't make him popular with his peers. He had a unique sense of humor and was constantly making her laugh, sometimes until her sides would hurt. He was thoughtful and always gave rock solid advice, even when she wasn't asking for it or didn't realize she needed it.

He was genuine, sweet and maybe a little offbeat, but that's what Lizzie liked about him. And he had this way of putting her at ease whenever she was feeling nervous or upset, even when they were little kids. She knew she could turn to him for support and a reassuring smile when she needed one. And she loved that smile too, with his cute little dimple… and those clear blue eyes that could read her like a book when something was wrong or she wasn't being herself. It was almost as if he could see straight through to her soul or something…

Wait, _what_? Lizzie shook herself back to reality and was suddenly aware of how clammy her palms had become. _Gordo's smile? Gordo's eyes?_ Since when did she even notice any of those things? This was _Gordo_ we were talking about, not Ethan Craft. Best friends don't notice that kind of stuff about each other. Or at least, they weren't supposed to. Right? Regardless, she could feel her cheeks burning.

At that moment, the bus lurched to a stop. Lizzie hastily wiped her palms off on her jeans and tucked her hair back in an effort to recompose herself. Glancing back to the front of the bus, she spotted Brooke starting to get up and realized that this must be Brooke's stop. For the first time on this bus ride, Lizzie smiled to herself. Maybe now that Brooke was getting off, she and Gordo could finally have some time alone to just talk like they always used to on the bus ride home. Maybe he would explain why he ditched her with a dead octopus during science that morning. Or maybe he would mention why he really bailed on her and Miranda at lunch.

As Gordo grabbed his bag and started to get up, Lizzie shuffled her backpack off the empty seat beside her to make room for him. Except… he wasn't making his way toward her row at all. Instead of them saying their 'goodbyes' and parting ways, Brooke was grabbing his hand as he followed close behind her.

"But this isn't his stop…" Lizzie thought to herself, confused. She should know because Gordo lived within walking distance of her, and she and Gordo _always_ got off at the same stop. Wait a minute, was Gordo… _going to Brooke's house?_ Lizzie looked on incredulously.

Just as he was heading down the steps behind Brooke, Gordo turned to give Lizzie a smile and a brief wave goodbye. She played it cool, putting on a smile and waving right back. But as soon as the bus doors closed behind him, she deflated like a popped balloon. Gordo had just gotten off the bus with Brooke Baker… Gordo was going to Brooke's house! Thoughts of what he might be doing over there ran rampant in her mind. Was he going to watch mindless TV with her? Was he going to hang out with her in her room? Was he going to show her how to hacky-sack? And what if he was staying for dinner? Those were all things he _used_ to do at Lizzie's house. This just felt all kinds of wrong. Because didn't he know that Brooke was wrong for him?

Brooke hung out exclusively with Claire Miller, Kate Saunders and the rest of the 7th grade elites - a.k.a. the same exact girls who were always ragging on Lizzie and her friends for being "dorks", "losers", "dweebs", "babies" and whatever other insults Claire and her posse could come up with in the moment. Seeing as Gordo had never exactly been popular with these girls, Lizzie was becoming increasingly concerned about what Brooke's intentions were with him. There was no way that anyone who could be friends with Claire could be trusted. And the last thing Lizzie wanted to see was Gordo getting his heart broken.

She slumped into her seat as the bus continued on its route towards her stop. Gordo looked so happy, and she knew she should be happy for him. But deep down, she honestly wasn't. There were a lot of things about this whole situation that just made her feel uneasy, and it wasn't always immediately clear to her why. But one thing was for certain: she knew she needed to call Miranda for an emergency session at the Digital Bean as soon as she got home.


	3. The Break-up

_7:30 P.M._

Later that evening at the Digital Bean, things got pretty tense when Gordo showed up at Lizzie and Miranda's table to talk…

"…We're best friends!" Lizzie exclaimed. "I can't believe you haven't mentioned her. Not once."

"Well I'm sorry if I wanted to keep something in my life _private_." Gordo countered. His words hung taught in the air. _Private?_ Lizzie thought. Oh, right. She remembered that he was, in fact, his own person.

Sensing his increasing irritation with her, Lizzie attempted to diffuse the situation. "We're just trying to help you, Gordo. We're protecting you. We don't want you to get hurt." And that was partly true, at least. But it wasn't working on Gordo.

"…By telling me she's using me?! Why? Cause a girl like Brooke could never like a guy like me? Well, guess what – she does."

"It's just that it's Brooke Baker." Miranda chimed in. "I mean, she's friends with Claire! That's all we're saying."

"She's also friends with me. In fact, we're more than friends. Funny, I came here to tell you guys how happy I am thinking you'd be glad for me. Guess that's just too much to expect from my best friends. See you around."

And with that, he took off.

"Gordo, wait!" Lizzie shouted after him in a last-ditch effort, but it was too late.

"Why do I have the feeling that Gordo just broke up with us?" Miranda asked worriedly.

"…'Cause he did." Lizzie confirmed. Feeling rather dejected and not much like talking, the girls finished their smoothies in silence.

Lizzie had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions that week over this whole surprise relationship between Gordo and Brooke. From feeling shocked, to confused, then frustrated, to concerned. But now she was just feeling plain old lousy. What Gordo had said to her and Miranda at the Digital Bean had really stung. And aside from the day-to-day realities of missing him, what hurt Lizzie the most was the fact that Gordo didn't feel like he could talk to her about any of it – or worse – he didn't _want_ to.

They were best friends who had always shared just about everything with each other. And Lizzie hadn't exactly kept quiet around Gordo about her crushes on Danny Kessler and Ethan Craft. Gordo was well aware of who Lizzie had her eye on at any given point in time, and she and Miranda had never thought to keep their crush-talk secret from him. Of course, he would roll his eyes and plead for a change of subject, but they usually brushed him off and kept on gushing anyway. He couldn't have really cared that much though, right? Talking openly about that kind of stuff just wasn't such a big deal, or so Lizzie thought.

But things felt different now. Gordo had _his_ eye on someone and hadn't wanted Lizzie or Miranda to know anything about it. Him withholding information from Miranda maybe didn't come as so much of a shock, but what was so special about Brooke Baker that Gordo didn't even want _Lizzie_ to know? That's what was really eating away at her - that he didn't feel he could trust her, his best friend, with something like this.

She just thought that after 14 years of friendship, she and Gordo were closer than that. But it turns out she was mistaken. And instead, he was growing closer to someone else.


	4. Garlic Guilt Trip

_9:45 P.M._

" _Shit, shit, shit."_ Lizzie muttered beneath her breath into the foggy steam of the shower.

Now she had really messed up – _big time_. Earlier that evening she had returned home covered in marinara sauce and reeling with guilt over how she and Miranda had ruined Gordo's date at the Holy Rigatoni. She hadn't meant for things to get out of hand as quickly as they had. She figured she and Miranda would just get in, see who Brooke was with, and get out. But of course, thanks to her own klutziness and bad luck, that's not what happened and now she couldn't dodge the damage she had just done to her friendship with Gordo. It had been hard enough just dodging the pointed looks and questioning from her mom when she saw the spaghetti lodged in her hair.

Lizzie sighed as the last remnants of red sauce rinsed from her hair and skin and swirled down the shower drain. As she reached for her bottle of conditioner, she feared that her friendship with Gordo may have just suffered the same swirling fate… right down the drain. Worst week ever.

Her intentions had been good; she had just wanted to make sure that Brooke wasn't seeing someone else behind Gordo's back. Everything she and Miranda had done was to make sure he wasn't getting hurt. But after what happened at the restaurant, it was safe to say that Lizzie had managed just fine to hurt him all by herself.

After a good rinse, she stepped out of the shower and toweled off. She then threw on her bathrobe and sauntered over to the bathroom vanity to assess the state of her hair. Grabbing a handful and bringing it to her nose, she took a whiff.

"Ugh, still garlicky…" she said, disappointed. She felt like she was just failing at everything; failing to get the smell of garlic out of her hair, failing to pull off what was supposed to be a simple espionage mission at the Holy Rigatoni, and most of all, failing to be a good friend. She wiped the foggy bathroom mirror clean as Gordo's words reverberated in her head. _She has the rest of my life to destroy. This is just one night of it._

"He may actually never talk to me again." Lizzie realized aloud as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. The last 14 years of their friendship suddenly flashed before eyes, and she couldn't believe how quickly it had all come to an end in just one night. And even if he ever did talk to her again, she knew he would never trust her. How could he? After the stunt she and Miranda pulled, she wouldn't blame him.

She wanted to call him up, explain everything and tell him how sorry she was. But it almost felt useless, like there was nothing she could say. Wrapping a small towel around her wet hair and flicking off the bathroom light, Lizzie steeled herself for the reality that her relationship with Gordo would never be the same again.


	5. Right-Side Up

_3:15 P.M._

After the previous night's fettucini fiasco, Lizzie and Miranda had spent their Saturday listlessly lying around the McGuire house. Neither of them really had the energy to talk about what had happened the night before, but they had a mutual understanding that what had happened had been very bad. So far they hadn't heard anything from Gordo, and they were both too afraid to call him themselves for fear that it would only confirm what they were already dreading; that their tried and true trio had now officially become a down in the dumps duo.

In their mutual sadness over losing Gordo, they had also reached a whole new level of boredom. They had already watched all of the Saturday morning cartoon reruns, perused all the back issues of _J-14_ and _Seventeen_ magazine that Lizzie had piled up in her room, and now they found themselves passing the time by laying upside-down on the McGuires' living room sofa and watching the hands tick on the standing clock in the corner. Somehow this disorienting, upside-down existence seemed more appropriate for how they were feeling than did any of their usual weekend activities - activities that typically would have included Gordo.

"You know, you girls are going to make yourselves dizzy letting the blood rush to your heads like that," came a cautioning voice from the entryway.

Lizzie craned her neck around to see her mom entering the living room with a big basket of laundry, her head bobbing slightly up and down as she approached them. It was weird to Lizzie how you only ever noticed things like that when you were upside-down. Jo set the basket down near the sofa and sat down next to Lizzie.

"But hey, while you're sitting here on the couch, do you want to help me fold some of this laundry?"

"No thanks." Lizzie said glumly, picking at her already chipped nail polish. Jo pursed her lips.

"Well, it's Saturday... you should at least be doing _something_. It's a beautiful day outside. Why don't you girls call up Gordo and go to the park?"

Lizzie winced at the sound of his name. She couldn't blame her mom for mentioning him though because she hadn't exactly been filling her in on what was going on. She hadn't told her about Gordo's relationship with Brooke, nor the fact that he'd been lying to her and Miranda about it, nor the fact that they had ruined his date last night and potentially also his life. But despite this, her mom still had this uncanny ability to pinpoint exactly what was wrong and then unwittingly force her to think about it again.

"How is Gordo, anyway? I noticed he hasn't been by the house much this past week." Jo continued obliviously as she picked up a pair of Sam's briefs and began folding. Still upside-down, Lizzie and Miranda exchanged knowing looks that it was time to make themselves scarce.

"That's OK. I think we'll just go hang out in the backyard…" Lizzie said as she and Miranda propped themselves upright and got up from the couch. Perplexed, Jo watched as the girls shuffled quietly out the patio door.

Outside, Lizzie took in a deep breath of fresh air as she and Miranda stepped out onto the patio. Her mom was right; it really was a nice day out. It was one of those types of days where she and her friends would have opted to walk to the mall versus having her mom drive them, and then swung by the Digital Bean on the way home for a cool treat. But Lizzie sensed that no amount of sunshine, fresh air, mall shopping or smoothies could shake the sinking feeling that had been building in her stomach since the night before.

She and Miranda sat on the patio steps in silence. Miranda was the first to break the ice.

"Lizzie… Do you think maybe your mom's right? Maybe we should call him…?"

"But...what would we even say?" Lizzie wondered aloud. "It just kind of feels like 'sorry' isn't going to cut it, you know? We should probably just...give him some space." Miranda couldn't really argue with that.

"Yeah… last night _was_ pretty bad. And honestly, if I never see another meatball again, I'll be happy. Do you know how long it took to wash the smell of garlic off of my hair?"

Lizzie knew all too well and she appreciated Miranda for attempting to lighten the mood. But her thoughts immediately turned back to Gordo and their lack thereof.

"I guess it's just the two of us now. No more Gordo."

"No more Gordo." Miranda echoed.

"No more long lectures about how we care too much about what other people think about us…"

"No more useless information about stuff we never even care about in the first place…"

"No more packs of cupcakes to share…"

"No more cupca- wait, _why not?_ " Miranda asked incredulously.

"'Cause they come in packs of threes! There's only two of us now." Lizzie said, pausing for a moment to contemplate the logistics of sharing a 3-pack of cupcakes with Miranda.

"I guess we could split the third one. No - it still wouldn't be the same." The thought of eating Gordo's cupcake quickly left her mind. She could never do that; the third cupcake would always be his.

And just at that moment, a familiar voice derailed her train of thought. It was Gordo.

"Hey."

Lizzie perked up, her heart rate suddenly increasing. Was he still mad at her? Had he come here to yell at them? Was he about to tell her that they couldn't be friends anymore? She had so many questions racing through her mind, but all that came out was a simple…

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?" Miranda asked innocently.

"Not that we don't want you here…"

"I guess I just didn't say everything to you that I wanted to last night." he said. Lizzie's palms began to sweat as she braced herself for the worst.

"Oh."

"Honestly, I can't believe you guys would go so far as to spy on me and Brooke." he continued. "That's just really really low. Especially for you." he said gesturing toward Lizzie. In an attempt to save face, she quickly deflected the blame.

"It was Miranda's idea!" she blurted out, which was… only partially true. Miranda scoffed.

"And I also can't believe that you guys spied on me." he said, repeating himself.

"You just said that, Gordo." Lizzie replied confused.

"I know… On the one hand, I'm really insulted. But on the other hand, I realize that you guys did it because you care a lot about me."

"Yeah, that's the one." Miranda added.

"Well, for your information, Brooke and I broke up." he then confessed.

Lizzie immediately panicked. Had she been such a terrible friend to Gordo that her antics had actually gotten him dumped? She would never forgive herself.

"What? Is it because of what we did last night? Gordo, I'm really sorry and you've got to get her back. If she won't listen to you, I'll try talking to her-" she urged. She wondered if she was overcompensating too much, but the damage had obviously been done and it was pretty clear that it had all been her fault. Or so she thought.

"Wait, wait. _I_ broke up with _her_." he clarified.

 _Oh thank god_ , Lizzie thought quietly to herself. She could start to feel some of the guilt and tension drain from her body.

Gordo went on to explain how, despite all of the great things about Brooke, he had been feeling like he was under too much pressure in their relationship. Brooke had expected him to wait for her by her locker every day, pay for her lunches _and_ transfer into her classes so they could spend more time together. It wasn't until that moment that Lizzie realized just how thoughtful Gordo was about his relationship and how serious things had been between him and Brooke. Well, serious for 7th grade, at least.

"I had no time for myself anymore," he continued. "I also had no time for you guys… and I really missed that part."

"So did we." Lizzie said sincerely. It felt good to know that he had been missing her just as much as she had missed him. Still, as she disembarked from the emotional rollercoaster she'd been on for the past week, she questioned some of the stray thoughts she'd been having.

Why had she become so concerned with the details of Gordo's relationship with Brooke? Had she really wanted to know what they talked about on their dates or whether Brooke was even smart enough to get his jokes? Should it have bothered her so much that he had a girlfriend in the first place? Was it normal to lose so much sleep over your best friend? And why did she keep thinking about how much she had missed seeing his smile? It was weird to Lizzie how she only ever noticed stuff like this when things were upside-down.

The mood now considerably lightened, they joked around for a bit about the ridiculousness of Miranda's get-up the night before and teased Gordo about his infamous lip-lock with Brooke at the Digital Bean. Lizzie felt kind of bad that things hadn't worked out between them. It seemed like Gordo and Brooke had genuinely liked each other, and she knew that her meddling hadn't helped matters. But Lizzie would have been lying to herself if she said that she wasn't glad that Gordo was once again flying solo. The truth was, she just wasn't ready for Gordo to have a new best friend yet, and at least now this meant she'd get to go back to hanging out with him on a regular basis. After not having seen him much that week, there was so much they needed to catch up on.

Wanting to make the most of the rest of their Saturday, Lizzie invited Gordo and Miranda to stay for dinner. But she paused for a minute as they headed back inside.

"I'm really glad you're back, Gordo." she said, throwing an arm around his shoulders. He flashed her a winsome smile, and she couldn't help but smile right back.

Boy, did it feel good to have him back.


End file.
